Fifteen Peruvian companies are listed among the top 100 best companies in Latin America, according to a new ranking by the Latin Business Chronicle (LBC).

The ranking was compiled based on the performance in terms of sales; profit growth and profit margins over the last three years, among other parameters.

Peru was the second highest country in Latin America, behind Brazil with 52 companies. According to the ranking, Chile has 14, Argentina 10, Mexico 7 and Colombia has 2.

According to Andina, LBC analyzed 779 companies listed on stock exchanges in Latin America and based its classification using six parameters.

The ranking’s parameters’ were: revenue growth in 2010, Earnings Growth in 2010; Profit as a percentage of revenues in 2010, average earnings growth over the last three years; average output growth over the past three years; and average earnings as a percentage of income for the past three years.

The final ranking only included companies with more than $100 million in annual sales.

The Chinese backed Peruvian company Shougang Hierro Peru was the first Peruvian company on the ranking, thanks to strong demand for iron in China.

"How successful is China in Latin America? Besides the boom in trade, Chinese enterprises in Latin America are also doing well. Earlier this year LBC said China would become the third largest buyer of American assets," said the ranking.

The other 14 Peruvian companies in the ranking are: Milpo (6), Modasa (9), Minsur (13), Cartavio (16), Transportadora de Gas del Peru (TGP) (19), Sociedad Minera Corona (21), Minera Poderosa (25), Cementos Pacasmayo (35), Cerro Verde (51), Buenaventura (65), Southern Copper (73), Aceros Arequipa (76), Volcan (77) and Quimpac (84).